But more than anything, there was joy!
The bond that had grown from childhood was finally blooming into a beautiful flowerbed of the future!
After the joy faded, Nathan didn't forget his plans.
First, he made enough Pokéblocks to satisfy those seven little troublemakers.
(Steelix: ?)
Then, he indulged in a long, comfortable sleep to recover from the fatigue he had built up in the Wandering Mountains.
After sleeping for more than ten hours straight, Nathan finally got up, enjoyed a hot meal, and headed to the hotel's training room.
"Volcarona, Pangoro, Flygon, Metagross, Mimikyu, and Zeraora—come on out!"
…
While watching his Pokémon train hard, Nathan reported the situation in the Wandering Mountains.
However, he didn't mention anything about Raikou, Entei, or Suicune.
He only said there were two Champion-level pseudo-legendaries and several Elite Pokémon within the range.
In Nathan's view, legendary Pokémon should remain in legends—it's better if they stay that way.
Otherwise, if their existence gets exposed, there's a chance events like the ones in his past life might occur—people attempting to capture them.
You have to understand:
In this world, Legendary Pokémon really aren't something humans can afford to mess with!
The Pokémon League might be dumb at times, but they're not that irrational.
But if some dark organization with a screw loose manages to anger a Legendary…
Just imagining it gave Nathan the chills.
After all, humanity's strongest trump card right now was just the Grandmaster!
It wasn't until late afternoon that Nathan finally recalled all his Pokémon and contacted the Lore siblings, Dyson and Anna.
They didn't talk much, just agreed to meet at a private room in a restaurant.
About an hour later, Nathan, freshly showered and in a clean outfit, arrived at the largest Pokémon-themed restaurant in City.
Why call it a Pokémon-themed restaurant?
Because the chefs were actually Pokémon—and their dishes had rave reviews online!
"The decor's nice. Wonder if the food's really as good as people say," Nathan muttered as he entered, eyeing the stylish interior.
For ordinary people, eating here required reservations made over a week in advance.
But as a trainer—and one who still had some lingering fame—Nathan didn't need to bother with that.
As soon as he entered, a smiling hostess with a Golduck walked over.
"You must be the genius trainer, Nathan, right? Please, follow me. Your private room is this way!"
Nathan nodded and followed the hostess.
But instead of looking at her, his eyes were fixed on the Golduck by her side.
Just from its aura, it was at least gym-tier!
This place was really loaded—even the waitstaff's Pokémon weren't ordinary.
Once seated in the private room, Nathan didn't bother scrutinizing the menu—he had a hard time choosing anyway.
He just randomly pointed to a few visually appealing dishes and began waiting, bored.
Luckily, he didn't have to wait long.
Soon, the Lore siblings arrived, led in by the same hostess.
Both of them looked quite tense.
Noticing that they were still wearing their bleached, worn-out clothes, Nathan raised a brow and asked,
"You guys had enough money, right? Why didn't you buy some new clothes?"
The question was directed more toward Dyson.
He doted on his sister—if he couldn't bring himself to buy something for himself, he'd at least buy something for Anna.
Dyson gave a somewhat forced smile and replied, "Boss, it's fine. We're used to living like this."
Anna opened her mouth as if to say something, but Dyson stopped her with a look.
"We've already received so much kindness from you. We can't trouble you anymore."
That was Dyson's mindset.
But it wasn't the mindset Nathan wanted from them.
Frowning, Nathan said in a low voice,
"If we had nothing to do with each other, I wouldn't care even if you dropped dead."
"But since you're my people now, you'd better speak up when you run into problems!"
"I'm not going to lecture you with some old saying like 'a kind horse gets ridden,' but don't think staying silent is being considerate."
Anna and Dyson might not be especially talented at making Pokéblocks.
Their aptitude was even a bit worse than Nathan's.
But both of them worked incredibly hard—Nathan could see that just by looking at their red, raw hands.
That kind of injury only came from mass-producing Pokéblocks far beyond one's physical limit.
If he had to guess, they had probably already used up all the supplies he gave them.
And for that reason alone, Nathan was going to take responsibility for their troubles.
Loyal and hardworking people were hard to find.
Loyal, hardworking people who gave their all for their boss were even rarer.
"I'll explain," Anna finally said after glancing at her silent brother.
She began slowly recounting the problems she and Dyson had encountered.
It was the kind of cliché story Nathan had seen too many times in novels.
They suddenly came into a large sum of money to pay for their mother's treatment…
And then the local thugs caught wind of it.
Not only did they get robbed of their remaining funds,
they almost lost the batch of Pokéblocks they had prepared for Nathan.
"Why does it suddenly feel like you two are the protagonists and I'm just the wise old mentor?"
Nathan said, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.
Find some mysterious fortune, get dragged into trouble, then turn the tables dramatically…
Wasn't he supposed to be the transmigrator here?
Anna and Dyson didn't understand his muttering.
They just sat in their seats like obedient students.
Anna aside, Dyson wasn't much of a protagonist anyway.
He only had two Pokémon, and his strongest hadn't even broken into advanced tier.
As for Anna? Even worse.
She was completely broke—her Pikachu was purely a pet.
And not even the cool anime kind.
It was the common-as-dirt, low-tier electric mouse—
basically just a household pet-slash-generator.
Cheap to feed, and it could save a decent chunk on the power bill.
Combat ability?
Pff, geniuses might like challenging higher-level opponents,
but Pikachu was usually the one getting challenged.
Even if it evolved into Raichu, it would lose its agility from the Pikachu stage.
It was widely considered a plain, low-value Pokémon not worth raising.
'Sigh… I guess I can't blame him. Enduring silently must've become second nature to him by now.'
Nathan thought as he considered the siblings' situation.
When you have no strength and come from a poor family,
enduring hardship becomes a survival skill.
But people who kneel for too long often lose the instinct to stand up.
Soon, dish after dish of aromatic, colorful, delicious food was brought to the table.
To Anna and Dyson, this was pure luxury.
But to Nathan, the real money sink was always his Pokémon.
The restaurant's food might be expensive?
Please—if he didn't have to feed Volcarona and the rest, he could live here full-time without blinking.
And that was the real reason it was hard for the poor to rise.
Also why Nathan still had so much attention online—despite everything.
But just a minute before the Pokémon restaurant tried to capitalize on Nathan's fame…
a group of loud, obnoxious people strutted in.
They walked like Doflamingo, sported flashy shamate hairstyles, and dyed their hair in garish emo-boy colors…
Just their entrance alone radiated a strange aura that could only be described as… Renaissance vibes.
But the first reaction of the Emerald City locals wasn't to laugh.
It was to feel secondhand embarrassment—and a headache.
"Excuse me, are you here to dine? If not, please don't disturb the other guests."
A local server approached, face cool and professional.
Every city had its dark side, and while Emerald City looked glamorous on the surface...